Lev Davydovitch Landau, 1908-1968

Abstract

Lev Davydovitch Landau was born on 22 January 1908 in Baku, a large university town, then the chief petrol-producing centre in Russia. Landau's father was an engineer, working in the petrol industry; his mother was a medical doctor who also worked on physiological research. Lev's older sister, Sofia, subsequently became a chemical engineer. The family was comfortably off and Landau started his education in a gymnasium. His exceptional talents were recognized at a very early stage and he finished school at thirteen. He was too young to go to university so his parents sent him to technical school where he studied economics. His mathematical ability became apparent equally quickly—at thirteen he was already familiar with analysis. In 1922 he entered the University of Baku where he simultaneously studied in two faculties (Chemistry and Physics) but he stayed only two years and in 1924 moved to the Department of Physics at the University of Leningrad. With the University of Moscow, this was the leading higher education establishment in Russia. He completed the course by 1927, having been appointed a Supernumerary Fellow in the previous year.